PSE wind power: big and getting bigger

Some big news about a big wind project, as PSE is now the sole owner of the Lower Snake River Wind Energy Project (winner of the "longest name possible for a wind farm" contest).

The project, being planned for Southeast Washington's Garfield and Columbia counties, is now in the permitting stage, with nearly 800 turbines and the capacity to power 400,000 or more average U.S. homes on the drawing board.

The whole effort was launched late in 2008 as a joint project of PSE and Renewable Energy Systems Americas, and now PSE has bought out RES' interest and is the sole owner. RES, however, is still on board as the general contractor, and in fact is also the general contractor for the expansion now underway at our Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility in Central Washington.

Why wind, and why in Southeast Washington? For starters, Washington state has a 15 percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that goes into effect in stages starting in 2012, culminating in the full 15 percent requirement by 2020. This 15 percent standard requires utilities to have that much of their resources be from renewable energy, and largely keeps existing hydropower out of the mix in an effort to have new sources be developed. (PSE currently gets about 40 percent of its power from hydro). Wind power is proving to be a cost-effective way to meet this standard (which was passed by voters in November 2006 as I-937).

In addition to the RPS, we simply need more and diverse sources of energy. Our customer base is growing (with nearly 100,000 new business and residential customers since 2004) and each individual is also using more energy as well. So, new sources of energy are needed, aside from the climate change and environmental issues that drive the move toward wind, solar, etc.

Southeast Washington is proving to be a great place for wind, with our Hopkins Ridge Wind Facility (pictured above) going strong in the historic town of Dayton, Wash. in Columbia County since 2005. The Palouse has plenty of wind, and the wind facilities are a great fit with the wheat and grain farming that has been in the region since the late 1800s. Wheat farmers get a nice second stream of income from having turbines on their land, and can keep farming at the same time. The economic boost is felt by those without turbines as well, with wind facilities in Columbia County now representing about 35 percent of the county's tax revenues, and a source of approximately 50 new jobs in an area that has seen shrinking employment since the 1970s.

Lower Snake River Wind Energy Project -- a long name, but a long list of reasons why it works for our customers and the community.